1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ladder platforms, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved ladder platform which may be quickly and easily attached to and removed from a conventional ladder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ladder platforms heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of providing stabilized work platforms on the top of ladders are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations. In this regard, a myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art and have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. However, the ladder platform according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed to facilitate ease of installation and removal while also substantially reducing the complexities and cost of manufacture.
More particularly, a number of patents have issued directed to the construction of ladder platforms. As can be determined however, these prior art ladder platforms represent structures which are difficult and expensive to manufacture. Accordingly, little or no commercial success has been achieved as evidenced by their lack of availability to the consuming public. In this connection, several prior art configurations have been directed to the permanent installation of ladder platforms to their associated ladders. Examples of these permanently attached platforms are to be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,749,008 which issued to H. Wilson on June 5, 1956; 3,057,431 which issued to J. George on October 9, 1962; and 4,530,419 which issued to Rumage et al on July 23, 1985. As can be appreciated, the use of a permanently attached platform substantially increases the handling weight of a ladder and in many instances, ladder platforms are not always required or are even undesirable for a particular job. As such, the increased difficulty of utilizing a ladder with a permanently attached platform may have resulted in the above-mentioned lack of commercial success of these types of devices.
One example of a selectively removable ladder platform is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,881,028 which issued to J. Baird on April 7, 1959. The Baird platform is functional for its intended purpose, i.e., being easily attached to and removed from a conventional ladder. However, the Baird platform is of a large and bulky construction and includes support railings as well as a platform of a size designed to allow a workman to stand thereon. Further, the large number of specially designed components would undoubtedly result in a high manufacturing cost so as to provide serious limitations to any commercial venture attempting to sell and market this type of device.
At least one ladder platform has been developed which is of a simplistic and lightweight construction. In this respect, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,045 which issued to R. Brooks on June 26, 1979. The Brooks patent discloses a ladder platform having a flat table portion for supporting tools and other equipment, and a pair of rectangularly-shaped tubular members are fixed to rear outside corners of the table for slidably mounting the platform over the upper ends of the rails of a straight ladder. While also being functional for its intended purpose, it can be appreciated that modern metallic ladders typically have their rungs mounted quite close to the ends of the ladders which would thus prevent the use of this type of ladder platform attachment. More specifically, the free ends of the ladder are too short to facilitate a slidable positioning of the tubular members thereover. Further, the Brooks ladder platform is designed to be rigidly attached to the tubular members which thus limits the user's ability to adjust the horizontal positioning of the platform. In other words, the end of the ladder would always have to be positioned at the same angle with respect to the structure against which it is resting if the platform were to be maintained in a perfectly horizontal plane. However, in the case of extensible ladders, this is not always possible to accomplish since it is necessary to move the base of the ladder further from the structure as the length of the ladder is increased.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved ladder platforms which could be efficiently and inexpensively manufactured while also being capable of being easily attached to and removed from a ladder. In this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.